Born on Christmas Day in 1821, Barton was a trailblazer in American history. Some would equate Burton’s work to Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War years earlier. During the American Civil War, Barton gained the nickname of “the Angel of the Battlefield” by the soldiers. She did what only seemed natural to her by helping soldiers. After the war, Burton went to help in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and lobbied for the United States to sign the Geneva Convention in 1873. Those events led to the creation of the American Red Cross in 1881. At the age of seventy-seven, Barton served as a relief worker during the Spanish-American War in 1898; however, in 1904, she resigned from the Red Cross. Barton passed away on April 12, 1912 (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011).

Barton wrote the letter in 1890 after a tornado outbreak occurred in the Midwest, causing 24 tornadoes and close to 150 people died. Burton thanks Evansville mayor N.M. Goodlett for their assistance and giving him a report of the damage in the Tri-State area.

These letters were donated by the Meyer-Schlamp Family and are view-able by request (MSS 157).